


The falling

by morisot99



Category: Star Trek, Star Trek: Alternate Original Series (Movies)
Genre: Accidents, Angst, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Falling In Love, M/M, Temporarily Unrequited Love
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-01-18
Updated: 2017-08-23
Packaged: 2018-09-18 08:36:05
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 20,561
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9377000
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/morisot99/pseuds/morisot99
Summary: With no one else aboard, Scotty gets into an accident on the Enterprise.Why was he there alone in the first place?As the story unfolds traveling back and forth time, he is dying.





	1. The falling (1)

**Author's Note:**

> Takes place post Star Trek: Into Darkness (post Kirk’s resurrection ~pre-5-year mission of the Enterprise).  
> This story starts off with a couple of “What ifs”.
> 
> What if, Scotty had someone in his heart?  
> What if, Kirk’s death had a somewhat different impact on him then it did to others?  
> What if, he was furious.
> 
>    
> *Original work was written in Korean.  
> *Some personal differences in the universe concept. Has nothing to do with the original Trek Universe.  
> *Also has nothing to do with the storyline of the comics ‘Ongoing’.  
> *Both scientific/medical facts depicted here has a 10000% chance of being false.
> 
>  
> 
> Original work: morisot99 (@nightaugust81)  
> Translation / Beta: @m1nterstellar (Thank you for being my best supporter!)

 

 

[Original version(Korean)](http://archiveofourown.org/works/1048292/chapters/2096614) < link 

 

 

 

 

  

 

 

 

 

0

_You are witnesses of these things._

_**Luke 24:48** _

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

1

 

For a moment, Scott witnessed the wall, along with hundreds of cables surge upwards.

The sight could only be described as a scene from a movie. Like a video feed, accelerating 0.2 times the speed. Every second seemed to be flowing separately into his eyes. Time rewriting all there was known to mankind’s history of physics, only the space surrounding him seemed to have a different current. Why?

In fact, He was falling from a 15m high ceiling.

 

 

 

  
2

 

It was 2 weeks ago, that USS Enterprise captain James Tiberius Kirk got discharged from the hospital. To directly quote from Bones, a shithead now named James ‘Lazarus’ Kirk was resurrected from the Sacred London center. Even after all vital signs proved his health was back to normal, it took 4 whole days to open his eyes.

 

 

 

  
3

 

Scotty recovered consciousness for a total of 0.5 seconds. He instantly caught on to a couple of facts. Montgomery Scott was falling bare from the core supervision area of the USS Enterprise’s 15m high ceiling, and Scott’s ‘Love of his life’ was as usual, taking a rest staying just outside of Earth’s orbit, and now he was on board the Enterprise as her cabin crew.  
The only cabin crew.

 

 

 

 

4

 

He was the third visitor Kirk ever had since he opened his eyes. If counting Dr. McCoy as a visitor was nonsense, then Scotty would be his second. As he was gathering every Starfleet engineer in sight at a conference room to have a heated debate about the latest paper on core energy, a call from McCoy came in. He rushed out of the conference room with no time to even collect a piece of his notes.

To be a visitor at The Sacred London Center, you’d have to sign 4 sheets of documents, along with answering sincerely to at least two nurses. At a place like this, Scotty was able to run a straight marathon to the VIP section. Swear to God, that was the first time ever abusing his authority for a mean of expediency.

“Jim?!”

“Sco-tty! Aren’t you unusually late?”

If overheard, the light tone of his voice would have easily been dismissed as if they had parted just yesterday and met again today. Kirk was sprawled across the bed, holding in one hand last month’s Playboy, the other a huge mug. It was as if he thought the hospital room to be a newly allocated dorm. Literally being brought back from the dead has not changed this man. That without a doubt, set fire on Scotty’s nerve that was frozen solid for the past 2 weeks.

“Are you _mad?!_ You are **mad** , aren’t you?”

“What, the hot chocolate? Or the magazine? Both? For your information, I didn’t get these myself. I just stole from Bones.”

“Tell me if there’s an idiot in this world, who crawls into a radioactive cave while still breathing?!”

He had never meant to sugarcoat anything. Nevertheless, Scotty felt surprise as the words left his mouth. For 2 weeks, he had thought astronomical numbers, in fact most of them included rage and grief. But it was not his intention for his first words towards the captain to be thrown blindly as criticism. Kirk also had a brief moment of surprise on his face, as he also did not predict the unexpected straightforwardness.

  
“Uh, Thanks for not holding back on the compliments, Scott. I’m really flattered.”

“Captain, Jim, **Jim!** Did you actually plan on aligning the dislocated core with brute force? That you could pop it back with your feet like _kicking a football_? Why, why not try saying you’ll blow out flaming magma with your breath alone? Then at least I could try and research which is more of a complete and utter reckless, hot piece of mess. I’d bet my frontal lobe that the magma would be far less interesting. Dear god…….” Scotty paused.

“Fuck, I’ve been thinking this whole time if you even knew what kind of a world was waiting on the other side of that double bulkhead, still don’t have a clue. I bet you didn’t have an ounce of idea, how much Sievert of Radiation was waiting in that short meter trip ahead?! Of course, you didn’t know, you bloody went in. If that monstrosity was set loose outside those doors, we would have made one fourth of the Enterprise an early piece of shipwreck and would have had to sell the remaining third as hull patching material for small-fry space ships.”

“Yeah, I went in because I had no clue.” Kirk shrugged his shoulders while giving a mischievous grin.“But I knew for a fact that I was going to die. Isn’t that just about enough? Conclusively I shut the door, keeping the radiation in, tight.”

“Did you even know what a horrible death it would have brought you? How much pain you would have been in while you died? Don’t kid yourself, Jim. The only reason you fell unconscious so fast was just because of the tremendous force of whiplash you got from the power getting back online. If you were bombed to a painful death dragged on to hours with a sane mind and body, what would have happened then? You wouldn’t have even dreamed of wanting to be born again, let alone resurrected.”

“Come on, let’s just stop with the gore talk.” This time Kirk’s voice was laced with annoyance. “Anyhow, consequently I’m still standing with my own two feet (Well, technically I haven’t stood up yet.) the other crew including you didn’t cross over to the other side, the Enterprise does look a bit hideous on the outside, but she’s still intact? Look at the facts, Mr. Scott. Acting on a utilitarian concept…….”

“Do you think the crew would have gone with your concept at the time?”

  
As Kirk’s mouth formed a straight line, Scotty felt his hands start to sweat. Strangely enough, from the neck to the top of his head was aflame, but from the back to stomach there was a chill creeping up, like being trapped inside an iceberg. Yes, indeed. Would they have acknowledged that gruesome sacrifice as a price for their own lives? When Spock on Kirk’s behalf, gave out orders to abandon ship, every crewmember on the bridge disobeyed. Would they have abandoned Kirk and followed orders specifying to keep _only themselves_ alive?

  
“Now look, if the Enterprise crashed on Earth it would have caused far more than the Vengeance striking London. There would have been super express tsunamis. Myself, or anybody else. If someone didn’t sacrifice and take a radioactive shower, the body count would have escalated to unimaginable digits. I just saw the most convenient solution and chose it.”

“Why did that sacrifice have to be you, Captain?”

“Oh my gosh, Scotty!”

  
Kirk threw the Playboy. Now it seems like that shithead was what got bombed with radiation, and not mine? He couldn’t bear to actually say that thought aloud so he shouted otherwise. His voice sounding stiff from the lack of recent use.  
“Because I am the captain!! Every consequence from a situation that happens to the Enterprise, hangs fundamentally on whoever’s sitting on the chair! Because it was my fault we got played by a fraud who had the balls to call himself an admiral, it was also my fault we got conned again and had our asses handed by a 300-year-old popsicle!!

  
“That burden is not _yours_ to take!”

  
Kirk originally didn’t understand everything that came out of Scotty’s mouth, but that’s usually when he’s rambling on about with astronomic terms. Even though he was using words Kirk all knew himself, it was the first time it felt like listening to a distant Klingon dialect, since he didn’t have a clue to what he was saying. And the words that followed out of Scotty’s mouth hit Kirk hard on the back of his head.

  
“… Power and Engineering problems are the Chief Engineer’s responsibility.”

  
At this point, not even Scotty could decipher if he was getting angry, or if he was crying.

  
“You should have sent me through that door. Not put me to sleep with the seatbelts on.”

 

 

 

5

  
He meant it.

 

 

 

  
6

But the last part, he should have left out. Scott thought in time that seemed to be frozen.

 

 

 

 

7

 

Christopher Pike criticized Kirk.

“You’re missing the point. And what’s worse, your using blind luck to justify. You are playing _God_.”

He died not 24 hours past those words.

That brought a definite takeaway to Kirk.

 

 

 

8

 

At any rate, Scotty lacked sociability. He tried laughing at it, thinking solitude as a genius’s destiny, but could not deny that he was being avoided by mere fact of him being a basic Scottish hillbilly. Scott was not the type to turn a blind eye from reality. A self-willed general accompanied by scotch whisky. Damned trap. Pride that shines in the form of a heavy accent. A faint shock of hair with a pale complexion. He was basically advertising on his forehead that he was stuck in the corner of Aberdeen for the last 20 years.

  
He couldn’t fool anyone by saying he had a lot of friends back home, but the situation got worse after joining Starfleet. He could count with his fingers, the number of senior, colleague, and junior combined, who sought out for him off duty. The seniors especially were threatened by Scotty’s unlimited experimenting spirit, not knowing when it will take over their place at rank. The people that could tolerably enjoy Montgomery Scott’s presence were the kind who could level-headedly separate his personality and the accomplishments his brain has achieved. Even that was eliminated when he shot up Admiral Archer’s darling Porthos, to bloody who knows where.

  
Keenser was one of Scotty’s symbol of human relations. The people who he could relate to, at the very least, were not on Earth. Keenser hardly ever talked, always had complaints hanging around his mouth, and a twisted spirit in just the right amount. Therefore, Scotty could spend his almost banishment fairly entertained. Looking like he was pulled out straight from a Tim Burton fairytale, he was still the most beloved intelligent life form in Scotty’s world.

  
That is, before James Kirk magically appeared out of the snow.

 

 

  
9

 

_I need you._

  
With that one word, Kirk pulled Scotty up from Delta Vega to the Enterprise…… Then Scotty was given a purpose in life. More specific and humane.

 

  
10

 

‘Scotty, are you insane? Why would you die in my stead? Who would control the core?’ Was what Kirk wanted to specify. At least he did with his expression. He just had to shut up because of the words, that came out faster than his, from Scotty’s mouth.

  
“Why did you try to be your father, Jim?”

 

 

  
11

 

_George Kirk was a captain for only 12 minutes, but he saved 800 lives._

  
_Would you be able to do the same?_

  
_If you’re half the man your father was, Starfleet could use you._

 

 

 

  
12

 

_Jim, for the love of God. Do not use those torpedoes._

 

 

 

  
13

  
_Sweetheart, listen to me. I’m not going to be there……._

  
_What are we going to call him?_

 

 

 

  
14

  
_“Scotty, will you take these coordinates down?”_

  
_“What, you think I’m an idiot who can’t remember four numbers? … What was the third one?”_

 

 

 

 

  
15

  
Scotty could barely breath while the silence hit him. Waiting for the mug in Kirks hand to bash his head in any minute. Or hoping himself to spontaneously get the courage to chew off and swallow his own tongue. Or just……. For the universe to go set itself back in time for the last 10 seconds, just to help him out.  
Scotty couldn’t dare to pull away from looking in to his eyes, when he did not even have the courage to meet them in the first place. A set of eyes burnt up in a sharp blaze. Scott saw something start to slowly vanish in those set of flames, and noticed it as a bad omen. That-,

  
“…….”

  
“Scott.”

Was a **sign** , that all won’t matter anymore.

  
“…….”

  
“Right, that’s it.”

  
There was the ‘crack’ sound of cup shattering.

  
“I now disclose the following as an order, not a suggestion. USS Enterprise Chief Engineer Montgomery Scott.”

  
The brown liquid stain that spread out on the floor started to form a pool.

  
“Get the fuck out of here.”

 

 

 

  
16

 

For the next week, Scotty holed up in a lab at fleet headquarters. He was stuck to the floor, as if he was going to eventually die after an eternity of experiments, but on the fourth day with only water and no sleep, Keenser was the first to open his mouth. “I’ll go out.” Scotty didn’t even look back. “Getta fuck out of here, asshole. You clean up when you get home.” And for the following 3 days, he held out with caramel, whisky, and a little bit of catnapping.

  
He already tested the limits of his life a couple of times on Planet Vega. First, it was a habitat for beings of low intelligence, and they had a reputation for having a bad temper, which resembled their hideous impressions, (maybe that’s why Archer thought Scotty would fit right in with those bastards) Most of all, humans were thought merely as a midnight snack fallen out from the sky. When the monsters were not after Scotty to swallow him up, the ever-present blizzard and chill were in their stead.  
The first thing Scotty and Keenser did after arriving was make a supersonic generator to stave off the monsters and set them outside the base.

Then, they had to chop wood to throw in the fire. They were stuck doing a primitive task that ought to have gotten extinct 300 years ago, in a planet stuck in the deepest corner of the galaxy. There was no choice, for if they didn’t, death was always ready to barge through the door the next day. _Shit, my life aside, what wrong did Keenser do to deserve being made into space popsicles together._ At that time, to at least save his only friend on Delta Vega from becoming a shellfish flavored ice-lolly, he had to try his damned best at survival.

He began to think those were the better days. At least then he had time to spare, consistently blaming someone else for the everyday misfortunes in front of his eyes. On the other hand, he still held on to that little piece of hope, that the son of a bitch beagle, thrown into another dimension or dissolved into particles by high frequency energy waves, would against all odds, rematerialize in front of his eyes in one solid piece. Those times were far from his situation now, far, far from this state of drowning in a black hole of self-hatred. It made him wonder, if he ever had the chance in his life to self-blame on something a hundred percent. _You kept on telling people that you’re mad, mad, now you’ve gone and done it, you crazy son of a bitch._

  
After he got kicked out of the hospital, he called Kirk just 3 times. The first, Jim didn’t pick up. He must have had something on his hand. On the deep corner of the rational part of his head, he knew that wasn’t the case, but he diligently tried to stay positive. There was no reply for the second one as well. Damn it. Are you still not done sulking, you narrow minded fucker. He made the third the day after. This time he got cut off during the ringtone. This meant the other party hung up without even answering. Scotty decided against making the forth. Anticipation that needed to be repeated 4 times was not hope. It was nothing but meaningless obsession. He got that from experience.  
But then, he heard a sudden banging on the lab doors.

  
_“Sir!”/ “Pardon me Sir, you really should come out now.”_

  
It was the same voice from 3 hours ago, of the guy from Starfleet administrations. The lab Scott was settled down to was the common lab in headquarters used by fleet engineers. And he had stayed over the maximum amount one could occupy at a time, which was 48 hours. The engineers and administrators who knew Scott’s rank tended to overlook this kind of situation, but all things must have had a limit.

  
“We’re about to cut the power off, sir. After that it’s clean up.

  
Alright already. Scotty opened the lab doors as he took off his glasses. He felt the administrator flinch as soon as he met eyes with him. Scotty had a vague idea of how ghastly he must look right now, so he didn’t care much. As he was walking out, his vision of sight began to blur and the floors stared surging, forming a current. But I sobered up hours ago? He thought. He was curious, not having been back to his place in over a week, whether if there would be no one home, or if that oyster bastard would have stayed just out of loyalty, but that thought didn’t stay long, for his head started to fog up.

  
Just then, he caught on to how drenched in fatigue he was. The 3 days of one lunatic almost starting an intergalactic war, the 2 weeks he waited for Kirk to wake up, the 1 week suffering of self-torment, he was not able to mentally rest for a sum of a month.

 

 

  
17

 

As he was sleeping like the dead, he dreamt. He was back at the time, not long after James Kirk had just been appointed the official Captain of the Enterprise, when Scotty had also been assigned as a crewmember. The goddess he yearned for was done with her trial run and resting on the mothership dock.

Back then, Kirk and Scotty’s relationship was a bit vague. The two of them were not that touchy feely at the academy, nor was Kirk’s intelligence on engineering above or below of an average cadet. There was no room for mutual interests to grow. Most of all, Scott had no idea how to convey his gratitude to Kirk for pulling him out of the snowy fields of hell, and putting him on top of the third most important position of a starship. In fact, Kirk was the first ever superior officer that saw his potential enough to put him in a place that matched his talent. He never had anything to thank for, up until now. So this was unfamiliar territory.

Instead of saying ‘Thank you’, he avoided Kirk with the upmost shameless expression as he stirred around and about the Enterprise. Jim did not particularly reach out for such a person. Once a day, was the only time Scotty sought out Kirk, when he rambled on one after another about the problematic state of the Enterprise and its room for improvement. The captain used to slouch on the chair, listening to him while wearing a bored expression.  
The turning point of their relationship came a day before the return to Earth. Scotty came to a sudden enlightenment for a more efficient way to place the circuits protecting the life support aboard ship. That was the reason, as he was rushing towards the bridge for a briefing of his newfound idea, for his proper tripping on a thick cable connected to the floor. _Motherfucker_. _For a guy who wants to up the life support on this thing, I can’t even guarantee shit for myself._ As he was grumbling while getting up, there was a familiar voice from behind his back.

“Oi, you alright, Scotty?”

 _Absolutely, Captain!_ _Of course!_ Despite his oncoming massive embarrassment, he tried to get up while shouting. But not even half way up, he had to collapse right where he started. As he went down, it seemed he had twisted an ankle in a weird angle, for there was pain omitting from that side.

“Hey, hey, it doesn’t seem like you’re fine at all to me.”

Before anyone even realized, Kirk was at his side, keeping him from trying to get up again. As he held on to Scotty’s ankle and applied pressure, Scotty felt his eyes tear up a bit as he winced.

“Fuck! Why is there a bloody piece of shit cable here!”

“Who told you to fall over that bloody piece of shit cable in the first place?”

Anyhow, your ankle is swelling up big time. Kirk said, as he once again pressed on his ankle. Now it hurt so much he could taste vile coming up, Scotty threw back his head and howled in pain. _Fuck, it hurts! I said that hurts!! Oh, come on!!!_ Instead of replying to the followed swearing, he hooked his arms through Scotty’s knees and back. After the pain subsided and Scotty got a hold of the situation, Kirk already had him midair whilst walking.

“Captain! Jim! Jim! What the, what is this?!”

“Helping you walk to medbay, when you can’t even walk, would be a waste of time. Just hold on a sec.”

“Forget it?! I’d rather crawl than get there in this state!! Put me down!!! Hey!! Hey!!”

“Hey, why don’t you just stop and hold on tight. You’re going to fall.”

“I said, let go!! Oi!”

As the two bantered in the hallway about whether to put him down or not, crewmembers started to show up around. Eventually, to prevent a far worse scandal, Scotty came to a conclusion to just obediently hold on to Kirk until they got to medbay. As Scotty decided to shut up at some point, Kirk smirked down at him and took a stride down to medbay, as if he had nothing heavy in his arms.

Afterwards, Scotty could recall the 80 second trip to medbay vividly. The warm and firmness of two arms under his legs and back, the weird texture of the yellow shirt rubbing against his face rocking up and down, Kirk’s chin that briefly touched Scotty’s forehead, footsteps, and the blue eyes that glanced his way for a final time just before they reached medbay. The memory was saved with multiple sensations combined, and was archived in his mind for it to be recalled with a stronger sense than reality itself. Ending up even being able to revisit in dreams. Only if McCoy didn’t stare at them with the expression of Picasso’s ‘The Weeping Woman’ on his face, the memory would have been saved in a much better form.

After that day, the peculiar awkwardness between Kirk and Scotty began to fade. Scotty’s nitpicking was as usual, and Kirk’s ‘pay attention to half, trash out the other half’, remained the same, but whatever. And Scotty figured out something had changed in his heart, but not exactly where. Truth be told, he didn’t care that much. He just wanted to enjoy the slight sense of shift in feeling by heart. It was a very refreshing feeling.

 

 

 

18

 

Suddenly, his dreams shattered. Scotty leaned against the headboard and tried to open his eyes whilst attempting to figure out the reason on why he was waking up in such agony. Fatigue was surrounding the whole of his body that he could not even let out a swear. It took him about 10 seconds after opening his eyes to notice it was the middle of the night, and that the phone was ringing loud enough to blow out his eardrums.

“Mr. Scott?!”

“Is it the _middle of the day_ in Russia?! You mad?” There was only one crewmember aboard the Enterprise who had a more peculiar accent than Scotty.

“Sorry to wake you up, sir…. And I am not in Russia, but in London, Brighton-”

“Save it, what happened.”

“I-, I know at a time like this, calling you would be considered a nuisance, but a very important matter came up and I had to. Mr. Scott, you must know of the Enterprise crewmember training aboard the starship Constellation that is happening 2 months from now.”

Just by hearing his voice, Scotty could feel Chekov’s hopeless expression.

Thankfully, the Enterprises main functions were still intact, everything besides that, almost everything has broken down,or it was as good as a critical patient in a comatose. For the next couple months of repairing, the ship would have to stay in a halt while remaining on the mothership. But Starfleet couldn’t just leave the ‘soon to be on a 5-year mission in a year’ crew on ground level training until the Enterprise is fixed.

In the end, orders were made for the crew of the Enterprise to train aboard the newly constructed and structurally similar USS Constellation.

“Of course I know, why wouldn’t I?” Scotty rubbed his face with dry hands. “We’re going on that god-awful name of a star ship for a short term expedition.”

“That is correct. And yesterday evening, the crew roster for the Constellation came up. Did you not check it out yet?”

“What?” The vague fog that was floating around his eyes vanished in a moment. “… No, I didn’t. I dropped dead before sundown yesterday.” The weight of sudden unsettlement grew larger as it started pressing down on his chest.

“Perhaps, you are planning to choose not to attend training?”

“The hell I would. What are you trying to say now? What’s your point?”

“… I am not appointed as the navigator, but the chief engineer. My place is planned to be replaced by ensign Jana Haines… I cannot find Mr. Scott’s name on the list.”

 

 

  
19

 

Awkward silence came through the call. Scotty rubbed his face vigorously, as if trying to peel off the layer of skin. He thought it would have been better, if just the month of pent up fatigue, was what came to bite him in the ass with a shitty nightmare.

“…….”

“… You haven’t contacted the captain yet, have you?”

As he barely managed to open his mouth, Chekov let out an instant reply.

“Yes, I actually contacted the captain the first! I did so immediately. But there was no reply, and just to be sure, I also sent messages but there was no reply to them as well. For now, I have contacted Commander Spock, he was also not informed of this

personnel change and thought it odd. He has come to a conclusion of two possibilities. Them being a technical error, or Mr. Scott willingly deciding to not participate in this expedition plan. I too think…….”

“Sure you did.”

But both theories were wrong.

“It is just a technical error, yes? I called just in case Mr. Scott had a personal matter for not joining this training session. You are sure that was not the case? I will immediately report on the rectification of the error tomorrow morning…….”

“No, forget it.”

“Excuse me?”

“The captain won’t pick up. I’m sure he’s pissed as hell.”

Scotty turned on the nightstand with a wave of his hand and looked around. A room full of clothes strewn all over the transparent panels and hundreds of cables seemed to go across and under furniture. In a room where dividing the start of the living space and the beginning of work, was useless, he felt the need to pull another all-nighter. There’s no use in trying to go back to sleep now.

“Jim put it up like that in the first place. I bet my wrists on…….”

He tried at the cocky tone as usual, but could not do anything to hide the deep strain in his voice. As though Chekov felt the unease, he called his name through the comm. "Mr. Scott?"

“What.”

“Are you okay?”

 ** _Nope._** For a moment that word came up to the tip of his tongue, but could not bear to let out. He suddenly hung up instead of replying to the concern. He was afraid he might spill out his guts to this naive kid if he kept this going. _The truth is it hurts. It hurts so damn much I might fucking die. How much I hate Jim, how much I loathe past time, how much my hate… is choking me._ The time he got stuck in the water tank by a transporter accident struck him. Suddenly he could not see mere centimeters ahead, it seemed like he was put back to that time, not able to breath out, water gaining pressure on his lungs.

 

 

  
20

 

  
When he woke up after passing out from Kirk’s fist, Scotty had a moment of pause in grasping the situation. He had no clue, how a ship that was falling in terrifying speed towards the atmosphere just minutes ago, could be flying this silent. It seemed like the artificial gravity had full power and was not leaning, but flying horizontal. He could see cables cut off by the Vengeance attacks letting off sparks all over the place, and Scotty himself, was bound tightly to a chair by the emergency seatbelt.

There was a faint sound of something _‘knock, knock, knock’_ knocking from the side. Scotty unfastened himself while feeling chills down his spine. _Knock, knock, knock._ Somebody knocking on glass. It was coming from the door now separating the fate of Kirk’s and the rest of the crew.

Pushing himself tight off the door, Scotty yelled at Kirk, who was knocking on the door, with barely opened eyes. “I’m here! It’s me!”

Kirk then opened his blue eyes and looked at Scotty. Scotty stared at the inside of the glass, devastated. The second entrance opened (that should not in any situation, be opened) on the other side of the glass door and the red omen of death on Kirk’s face explained everything. In the end, Kirk succeeded and Scotty failed.

“Wait a minute.… Wait.” 

 _I’ll get you out of there, just wait a minute._ But Scotty knew better than anyone that once the first gate heading to the warp core opens and closes, before the decontamination program starts kicking in, nobody can get the door to open. It was none other than Scotty who developed the program, after all. To top it off, it was physically impossible to break down this gate by a canon attack from a 10 feet distance, let alone human force. Kirk and the radiation was so completely isolated from Scotty’s world. His hands shook.

 _Transporter!_ What if he used the transporter? Wouldn’t it be possible to punch in the coordinates of Kirk’s body alone and only transport his body out? But the engineering room and transport station was too far. It was highly likely that by the time he comes running back, everything would be over. Kirk weakly shook his head at Scotty. He did not open his mouth, but Scotty could understand by his eyes what he wanted to say. _‘It’s all over.’_ Kirk blinked. _‘Don’t.’_ If Kirk had spent more than 10 minutes right beside the core, there was zero chance of survival. Scotty could roughly estimate the length of his unconsciousness. It was long enough for Kirk to have gotten his death certificate in advance.

“Just… Hold on. Please.”

Scotty knew he was not the suitable man to stand by the last moments of James T. Kirk. He was just the subordinate with the tendency to nag whenever his mouth was open. On top of that, he was so incompetent that he wasn’t able to convince his superior and threw in his resignation that brought all of this on. There had to be at least a better person than that to be by Kirks final moments. A person armed with an unbreakable band and truthful friendship. An army brother who can create an equal bond with Kirk. A friend who could give up their lives through time and space. The stubborn Vulcan would have by now presumed what would have been happening to his friend, for he did not believe in unscientific and coincidental miracles. Scotty opened his communicator.

He spent the short amount of time it took Spock to run from the bridge, with Kirk. It seemed that much was allowed. To keep Kirk awake, Scotty blabbered on about random stuff and kept calling out his name. Jim, keep blinking your eyes. Close the inner gates now. You just need to push the switch above. Don’t close your eyes. The commander is running his feet off right now. Jim Kirk, get a hold of yourself! Are you actually going to sleep with me beside you? Oi, Captain! You can get your freakin beauty sleep later! The truth was, the other side of that door looked so lonely. Scotty had to keep his mouth moving just to get rid of that little bit of fear and isolation from dying alone. As he chattered on, he couldn’t get a grip of what he was uttering from his mouth.

Kirk finally said something back. At the same time, the sound of Spock running in could be heard and Scotty did not have the time to clarify what he had said. He instantly gave way and ran to Spock.

“The door is locked…….”

Everything is blurry after that. Even though he watched from afar the farewells of Kirk and Spock. The moment they said how suitable each was to another with their unfitting goodbye of ‘Live long and prosper’, Scotty felt like one of the audience peeking into a grand play.

Calling Spock was a wise choice. Even if he went on stage, he would never be able to reach an equal spot to his. Taking a step back was the worthier option. The fact threw Scotty’s emotions to the bottom.

 

 

  
21

 

  
Even after putting that to the past, Scotty could not get himself to like Spock. Prime Spock almost drowned him the first time he ever boarded the Enterprise, and the fact that young Spock thinks ill of his short-tempered nature was an added bonus. That was why Scotty didn’t like the fact that Spock was at his place. With a semiconscious mind running on cat naps, he disliked him even more.

“Mr. Scott, I will need an explanation for this current situation.”

 

 

 

  
22

 

The replacing of the chief engineer always creates a stir. Pavel Chekov was an individual that could only temparily fill in for the engineer at an urgent situation. The Enterprise and her crew paid a high price to see what happens when the chief engineer is absent for 3 days. Now everybody knows they won’t be able to make it with dressing Chekov up in red for the next 5 years. And it was not a viable option to make another one the Navigator.With the lack of talent, and chemistry with Helmsmen Sulu.

  
“To summarize, if a chief of a critical division is absent, unnecessary strain will occur to the rest of the crew accommodating to said absence and work efficiency will also decline as a result.”

“Did I bloody say I didn’t know that? Being kicked out had nothing to do with my will.”

“I had assumed from the previous conversation with Mr. Chekov. The conflict between the captain with strong tendencies of acting on emotion, combined with the also emotional and frequent inclination towards being unable to maintain in control of anger…….”

“ _Fuckin hell!_ Who are you calling _emotional!”_

“…With the conflict, I can safely assume that the possibility of it unofficially affecting the change in personnel can be estimated to 75.6%. And the emotional individuals I have designated was captain Kirk and you, the former chief engineer, Scott. Additionally, observing your attitude now, I will need to change my calculations to the probability of my theory.”

It will be logical to adjust it to 100%. Spock did not show negativity to Scotty’s sarcastic remarks. As a matter of fact, the only individuals this Vulcan showed emotion towards were Kirk and lieutenant Uhura. The Spock in front of Scotty was as solemn as a corpse. Anybody would have to cower at that expression whether they like it or not, and eventually Scotty complied.

  
“I will conclude that the two of you had an indisputable discord, and that discord lead to the captains change of mind, and your temporary discharge from the Enterprise.”

“Temporary?”

Spock twitched an eyebrow. “It is the logical conclusion. The list excluding your name is the starship Constellation training attendant’s registration that will take initiation 54 days from now, not the crew register for the Enterprise. You should know You're not the only crewmember who will be absent in this training. The finalization of the official crew of the USS Enterprise will be decided in 6 months’ time, it is possible for faculty to be altered by the captain’s decisions until 2 months prior to the expedition.”  
“You have some fancy words to say that bastard might change his mind.”

  
Scotty spat out while pouring the whiskey in his hands. After figuring out the glass was already half empty, he once again started to hurl abuses.

  
“But, oh wait? The only officer that got his head on a silver platter is me. As you can see. And the people not boarding the Conste-whatever is either not due anytime soon to leave the hospital, has a baby, or unfortunately crossed the rainbow bridge when Kahn and admiral Marcus went batshit crazy. They only say temporary training. You know it’s as good as a temporary gathering of all the crew shipping out next year.

Spock took a pause to think.

“Crossing a certain bridge was never filed as a reason for not being able to board a vessel.” 

“Why does your English never improve!!”

 _Commander, do I need to buy you an urban dictionary so we can have a proper talk? Hmm?_ Spock once again ignored his snappy remark. Judging by the strong huff of alcohol and the appearance of an insomniac, it was not the right timing for Scott and Spock to have a rational conversation. Spock admitted his act of seeking out Scott firsthand to assess the problem was a highly illogical act.

  
First of all, he was standing in the doorway confronting Scotty and was confused as this situation goes against what he thought to be the human norm for manners. But Scotty was taking a defensive posture showing he had absolutely no thought of letting Spock in. Spock decided to follow his wordless demand.

  
"I will postpone the acquisition of idiomatic phrases. At any rate the Enterprise needs you. If there is no other reason than the discord, I conclude that your joining of the Constellation training is the logical option."

“It’s not like I’m pulling out on purpose, I just can’t! Sadly, this decision is on Jim.”

“You partially took part in that decision.”

“ _Crap!_ What do you suggest I do then!”

“Mr. Scott. Why do you think I put emphasis on the ‘Training’ of the USS Constellation, and the chance of an alteration within the embarking crew members? If the short-term training for exploration of space is below 15 days the captain is authorized, even on the date of embark, to change the ship roster. I am currently demanding you reconcile with Jim prior to this training session.”

  
Scotty shook his head. What bloody reconciliation when he wasn’t even picking up my calls? If we were emotionless Vulcans a logical, immediate pacification would have been possible. _No, before that there wouldn’t even be a fight, Pon farr excluded, shit._ But Jim and Scotty was _human._ And a very emotional, and unyielding human to boot. Scotty was slowly being spent by this cold war, and hoped this wouldn’t end up in a long-run, but didn’t have a clue on how to end this war. For this war was indefinably caused by his damned tongue earning the King’s wrath.

  
“Mr. Spock, I…….”

“You are not only the chief engineer but also third in command. Do you have no thought to take responsibility to your rank on ship? You may work constantly in engineering, but when something were to happen to Jim and I the automatic transfusion of command as caption would be you. The obligation tied to the weight of importance undoubtedly differs by rank. You being exempted as a high ranking tactical officer will have a completely different effect on board than a crew member below the rank of an officer being excluded. I do not think that you are denying participation due to ignorance of this fact."

  
Spock finished talking and looked down at Scotty. He could see his shoulders were drooping.

“… I also want to board the Constellation. Know this. I never told you I didn’t want to go.”

“That is a relief.”

“And I don’t want to stay this way with Jim! But that bastard won’t listen to a single word I’m saying right now. Phone call or not, _access denied. Beep-_ I’m sick of being denied now. It’s like getting a bunch of disqualification calls when you’re trying to get a job.”

This time, Spock caught on to the precise undertone. “Do you think I can be of any help in assisting the reestablishment of your relationship?”

Scotty put down the whiskey bottle and looked at Spock. _What kind of desperate expression did I have on to make that stubborn ass act like this?_   There was no way to find out.

“You go persuade Jim in person. I don’t even expect a full reconciliation. Just… actively appeal my abilities as a need to the ship. Or appeal that Russian kids ability is a fucking disaster to the engine……. In any case you have to tell Jim, not me.”

'To Jim, my words will be just a blurred sound to his ears but he’ll listen to you. You’re the friend who will be with him to hell and back.' Scotty weakly murmured as he swallowed his next words.

 

 

  
23

 

  
A few days pass and still no call from Spock. He must be running around and about for whatever reason. Scotty eventually quit being stuck to the bed, or sitting around in a daze with Keenser waiting for Spock’s call. He waited for him at the Starfleet labs which was as good as his second home. He spent his time persuing his personal projects and moderately bugged the staff in the process. Then he got a message from Spock by an anonymous account.

  
[ _I am on one hand, finalizing the events that occurred at Kronos and on the other inquiring into the relation between Khan’s actions and admiral Marcus._

 _Jim and I both are unable to make room for personal time. I would request for your patience on the matter of your return. It will be difficult to state the exact time needed._ **(Spock)** ]

 

There was another message via public account.

 

[ _Are you really unable to join training?_ :( **(Chekov)** ]

 

He replied to this one.

 

[ _I don’t know either moron._ **(Scott)** ]

 

 

  
24

  
Why did you try to be your father, Jim?

 

 

  
25

  
_If it were possible, I would have asked a different question._

Were you in pain behind your father’s shadow?

 

 

  
26

  
But that was impossible. Scotty was currently dying in solitude darkness. He was still conscious, for he did not fall on his head. There was no time to be mesmerized by the bloody world shown in front of him. He must have punctured his lung, breathing was a problem.

 

 

 

27

  
On another long day of waiting for Spock’s message, there was a heavy knock on the lab doors. I’m not due to leave yet! There was unexpectedly a reply. Mr. Scott, It’s me! The voice was of a woman and somehow similar it befuddled Scotty. Was there a ‘woman he knew’ that would visit him at a place like this?

He made Keenser get the door. There stood Carol Marcus out of uniform.

 

 

  
28

  
“I’ve always thought of meeting you outside of work. Off the Enterprise. I just didn’t have the occasion.”

  
Carol somehow made space on the test tube, panel and paper covered table for the sandwich basket. While grabbing a chicken sandwich for Scotty and a green sandwich for Keenser, she nodded towards a part of the lab walls. It was where the layer-model blueprints were hung.

  
“These are the prints for the transporter Mr. Scott is developing, am I right?”

“Um, Yes. These usually get mistaken for a painting of a giant correction tape.” He answered whilst stuffing his mouth with sandwich. Her unexpected intrusion somehow didn’t seem disturbing but rather nice. “I thought maybe I could lessen the shitty instability of this thing. I left it hanging for more urgent matters though……. This is alright. I mean the sandwich, of course."

  
Carol was looking around in pure awe at the entirety of the lab. She continued to ask while going through each one, about what experiment this equipment was for, did you write this book? Is the force-field created in the lab anyhow related to the shields, stuff like that. Scotty was in shock for it had been so long since he got this many questions actually worth answering. I wish a certain somebody I knew could grow to be half the person she is. That piece of work only knows how to give the wrong orders, let alone a decent question.

  
“Back in my cadet years, I wrote a paper on your transwarp theory. As a matter of fact it just ended up being a rubbish non-stop worship of your achievement. So after finding out ‘The Montgomary Scott’ was on the Enterprise, I could barely keep my eyes shut that night.”

"Oh, then after today you’ll probably stay up about a week." Scott let it pass with a sly expression, but the tip of his ears were burning. Carol kept her laughter in.

“That was nothing. It was just me, swiftly finishing off something that would have took a couple generation of idiots to solve.”

“And just like that, Starfleet swiftly stole your theory.”

  
For a moment, Scotty put a hold on chewing his sandwich. It seemed kind of iffy, in front of Carols serious face, whether to swallow or spit out the remaining food inside his mouth. The sound of Keenser sucking on his coke stood out loud.

  
“Jokes aside, that is an unforgivable _crime.”_

“……. You’re right. It would have been nice if I thought of patenting it a month earlier. Well, coming in to Starfleet, I did put a resolve on getting ripped off to the bone. It was my fault for thinking those suckers would stop at the bone.

“Don’t you have any ambition of protesting for the ownership of the theory? Now?”

“Not really?” Scotty shrugged. “It’s too late now. I don’t have two cents to add anymore, because the higher upper assholes stated for a fact that I did come up with my theory. But them letting lunatics use trans warp tech to run about in mad scales do piss me off. Just look at Khan. Ice lolly ghosts are coming back to life."

“No one ever assured you the profit that could have been yours, are you fine with that?”

  
Carol was persistent and Scotty felt this small gathering was starting to feel uncomfortable. _What the hell is wrong with this woman?_

  
“Listen here, What profit is it that you claim I could have had? Money? A fancy promotion? When I research something, it isn’t about keeping bread on the table. I shouldn’t be in the lab at the first place if I wanted to earn money. And my job is to bloody run around the entirety of the Universe, what business would I have with all that fortune? Do they take US Dollars or Pounds in Andromeda? Then I’d reconsider.” Scotty murmured. “Oh, and by the way, I fucking loath being named a general or an admiral. If they give me the whole ship to take I’d do it, but that’s not that case at all. All ends with just waving their fingers to go here and there in a fancy chair, that’s what Starfleet officials do. Those cocks.”

  
_Ahahaha-,_ Carol pleasantly laughed aloud. That was when Scotty remembered that Carol’s father was an admiral, and even if said person overtly did some shitty stuff, it was unknown if his daughter could take in such a joke with stride. But there was no unease to be found on Carol’s face.

  
“So you just did it because of the enjoyment in the research itself.”

“Exactly. Because I like it. Because, I wanted to make the Enterprise a bit sexier.”

  
And to fulfill _someone’s outrageous request_. He did not add, but thought.

  
“With this, who would notice me at the end of the day?”

 

 

  
29

  
It was 3 days after Carols visit when Spock’s message arrived. The alarm notifying new mail chimed while he was drawing blueprints with one hand, and counting pendulums with the other. Throwing everything aside, he ran to the panel in an instant. Compared to the last one, the content of this message was simple. Another difference was that this mail was directed to the entirety of the Enterprise crew, not just Scotty.

  
_**Modification Notice** >> USS Constellation 22nd Expedition Training : Boarding Crew List_

  
Scotty swiftly moved his fingers to upload the list on a portable panel. Looking at the middle of the list, Chekov was moved back as the Navigator. And at the end of the list, next to ‘Chief Engineer’ was Scotty’s name.

 

 

  
30

 

Before Scotty could even enjoy this another alarm went off, informing an incoming video call request. Not even checking to see who the caller was, he flipped the switch. An oh-so-fine face popped up the huge panel. Well for a fact, Spock always had that stiff face, with the cold straight bangs, nothing has changed in his exterior looks, but Scotty was confident that he could sell it to the whole wide world that he was, for the day, the Universes most stylish heartthrob superhero in existence. Reuniting with his long-lost mother wouldn’t be this emotional. Scotty started to spill out his thoughts before Sock could even open his mouth.

  
“Hey, _Mr. Vulcan!_ Up until now I’ve always thought your speaking tone was like a space station broadcast, but I take that back. That tone must have some inhuman, super convincing powers. How’d you get that stubborn ass to give in? By the look on his face, thought I was a goner for space travel, let alone the Enterprise. _Holy shit!!_ If I could cut off a part of my body, I’d give you anything. Besides the brain, anything! Let’s at least hear what in the heavens you said that changed Kirk’s mind! There might be some kind of lab work waiting for me but I frankly don’t give a shit right now!”

“I beg you, Mr. Scott. If you want a sufficient conversation with me,” Spock rose his hand above the screen as though he could not bear any longer. “I request for you to be silent for 10 seconds. In this moment, I do not think my voice will be audible on your side.”

“Oh shit, all right! I’ll leave the chitchat for when we actually meet. This, just getting to the point and logging off staring at a screen thig is meaningless, isn’t it?”

  
Scotty toned down a little as Spock rose his hand a second time. It somehow felt like Spock was looking at him with a shade of unease in his eyes through the panel. A Vulcan with an uneasy gaze, that would surely entertain the Galaxy.

  
“Incorrect, there is no reason whatsoever, for myself to get such praise from you.”

“What’s with the modesty! Are all Vulcans like that?”

“For I have not had any contribution to this particular change of crew. For this reason, Mr. Scott, you do not have reason to give any form of praise to me, as I also do not have reason to receive your compliments. I have failed to persuade Jim.”

  
Keenser started to crawl up on the desk by habit, but this time Scotty didn’t yell for him to get off.

  
“Jim stated that if ensign Chekov was unfit for the job on engineer, he would subtract other personnel from within Starfleet to name as chief engineer. I expressed my opposition to this inefficient decision, to that Jim rebutted, this expedition is to be held short-term, and by that the engineer would not be acquired to do any heavy control work. Additionally, he built up the argument with the possible minus points, of stationing a subordinate with unstable relations with his superior will bring to this session. I did not think this statement in itself to be illogical.”

  
Spock kept silent for a moment, for his request of 10 seconds have all past. But as Scotty remained silent, he opened his mouth again.

  
“The advocate behind the constant emphasis to Jim on your necessity, was Lieutenant Marcus. As the Weapons Officer, she declared, to maintain and repair the state of the engine that powers the weapons board the ship, your help was indispensable. And with the high possibility of the Constellations warp core and the Trans warp code of the Enterprise functioning differently, this too needed you to participate on management. Jim eventually authorized your boarding.

But, **this** is a conditional boarding.

By no means are you allowed on the Bridge, your presence must also not to be directly exposed to the Captain. Messages too must not be sent directly to the Captain, but relayed by a different crewmember. He stated with accepting these conditions, you are authorized to board the Constellation training as Chief Engineer.”

 

 

 

 

 


	2. The falling (2)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Original work: morisot99 (@nightaugust81)  
> Translation / Beta: @m1nterstellar

 

 

 

31.

  
The USS Constellation was like the Enterprise, a constitution rank starship that was made in haste to fill in the gaps left by the damaged ships following the destruction of Vulcan. It had been made ready for departure prior its sister ships USS Betelgeuse and USS Margarita, and returned from multiple short-term expeditions within federation grounds.  
Structurally, there were no noticeable differences with the USS Enterprise, other than the fact that there was more space made to store weapons, a bit less crew needed to operate the ship, and a bit of an upgrade on the warp core and shields.

  
“So, she’s the Goddess of Peace. With a cannon up her skirt.” Bones sarcastically said. “Does it look sexy to them when you just paint over the name warship with starship? Like I don’t know they’re blatantly turning this place into an army, with Nero and Khan as an excuse?”

“Now of all times, what is your problem?”

Scotty threw his luggage on the cart. The cart, shipping Bones and Scotty’s bag, leisurely slid out somewhere in a shuttle station filled with hundreds of fleet officers.

“If anyone doesn’t know we are a space army, they must be at least non-human.”

“What I’m trying to say is, the things they do just keep getting shittier by the second. And they say an Expedition, not even a Peacekeeping force. John Harrison will laugh his ass off. That aside, I need you for a bit.”

“Oh what now!”

 

Scotty threw a fit as Bones abruptly shoved a tricorder in his face, but didn’t have enough strength to shake off Bones’s hands that held onto his arms. Eventually, there was no other way than keep still until Bones finished his thing, but had to make another scene when the examination didn’t seem to end right up to the brink of boarding.

 

“Monty. As a chief medical officer, I give you an opinion - drop everything, go home, stuff your stomach with something and sleep to death.”

“Thanks for that prompt opinion, Bones. Don’t spew crap on me now and let's just go.”

Scotty pushed away the tricorder like it was a bother. Bones put away the tricorder into the portable medical kit as the announcement for the shuttle to depart in 5 minutes were made. Familiar faced were already settled down on the shuttle.

“I mean it. You need to at least gain fifteen pounds to do any work or not.”

“You want me to roll around?”

“ _Roll around_ , my ass? Grab anyone here and ask. If you’re right or I’m right. Normally on Earth, people get all chubby with letting their guard down, so why are you the only one going the opposite? Is the food here not to your taste from being out of orbit for so long?”

“Yeah, I miss those protein bars to bits. So send me back to Delta Vega now. I’ll fucking choke myself with them.”

 

The nagging from Bones didn’t seem to stop as the seatbelts were fastened. From experience, the fat from Earth was going to be left back in space. Losing appetite from the stilled air on a spaceship, the diet that put more thought on balance than taste, the stress from a long-term shift was an experience that any Starfleet officer would feel one time or another. And medical officers like Bones even had the obligation to solve said problem. When being lazy at preventing eating disorders in an isolated area like a starship, it could easily lead to malnutrition problems.

As that was repeated about sixteen times, Scotty wanted to seriously jump off of the shuttle.

 

“You need to look at a mirror. No matter how I sugarcoat it, you look like a guy with encephalitis. Just know that I’m going to separately check on your diet once a day. Were you even eating back at your place?”

“Shit, I hope 2 weeks go by as fast as it can. And was there ever anything appetizing in London cuisine, huh?”

Rather than replying, the doctor threw something on Scotty’s lap.

“ **Twix**?!”

“To gain weight, this does the trick.”

 

With the departure notice, the shuttle ascended. The view outside the window started to slowly disappear downwards. As Scotty held on to the Twix wrapping, he could hear Bones say as an added second thought.

 

“I thought Jim pulled you out from training for your health. In fact, looking at you now, anyone will think like that. It’s my fault hoping for the sucker to be that considerate.”

He added while gazing at London moving out of sight.

“Why on earth did you two fight?”

 

  
32.

  
As promised, Scotty was sparing of himself to the bone not to cross paths with Kirk. Inevidently the two almost met once, right after arrival when the captain summoned all officers to near the bridge. Fortunately, in between 70 or so officers in uniform, there was a low chance of Scott getting noticed by Kirk. But just to make sure he stood tightly behind a taller Bones, and the doctor squinted his eyes noticing this.  
Scotty could slightly see Kirk over Bones’s shoulders. It was two months since he saw him at the hospital. He looked nonchalant just as usual. The not trying hard that he tried enough to style was the same as well. His face was full of vigor. As Kirk looked towards Bones while notifying precautions throughout divisions, Scotty immediately crouched his body. He did not have a clue on whether it was annoyance or relief was feeling right now. A slight grumbling noise was coming from Bones.

 

33.

  
Keenser was the one who delivered all the messages to the bridge. _By Keenser’s ID_ , so to speak, Scotty wrote and sent all of them with his friend’s name. There was no reason to be held in question for there was nothing personal in the material. _‘Warp core normal, warp preparation ready, area 52 has been showing drops of coolant level at an interval of 2 hours; cause analysis. Engineering C-39 cable damage, replaced.’_  
He strongly requested for Chekov and Sulu to not send messages to his account, but personally come down from the bridge. Hearing that, he could sense Chekov studying his expression but just ended up snapping ‘What, you wanted to be chief that bad?’ He didn’t go too much into it.

  
For consolation, at least, the Constellation was a much more sophisticated one then Scotty imagined. Most of the main functions could be managed by considerably simple operation and the act of data swapping was unbelievable. IE control programs algorithm was woven simple and efficient. And for emergencies, a simplified version was to pop up to individual computers, helping lower ranking staff without related knowledge solve the problem first hand.  
What stood out the most was that the Constellation used a different warp core with the Enterprise. This one used not a single core, but a quad core, and made energy not in a dualpulet or tripulet form, but in quadpulet form. With this, when one of the cores cannot function in an emergency, the rest three could keep going and the ship will maintain normal flight. In addition, the energy force will be sterner in a quadpulet state, and will have a lower chance of energy instability from external shock.  
Plus, it tended to emit less radiation. Scotty at least got to have fun spending four days observing engineering and the new systems.

 

34.

  
**A------lag**  

 

**[Summary]** The time lag present during transportation whilst the subject located at the designated coordinate is read.

  
**[Concept]** The basic transport process is as the following. **1)** The signal from transport A is delivered to the object on coordinate a, **2)** after he transporter disassembles the object granted with the signal to molecular units **3)** reads the information of the disassembled object, **4)** the information read via this procedure is sent to transport B. **5)** transport B once again reads the information sent **6)** re-assembles said object at arrival coordinate B. This time needed at 3) is referred to **\-------lag.**

The Concept shown was first proposed by Dr. Gunnar Olson.

  
_(* **\-------** is the indecipherable part where Scotty blacked out with a marker. He went over it pitch black.)_

 

35.

  
Having multiple warp cores meant needing a lot of energy to feed them. Burdens on the Scotty thought. But after going through the core controls in the computer, he felt the need to reconsider that thought. Having four cores didn’t mean all four were always functioning at the same capacity. Normally, one of the those will concentrically consume the energy and the rest will periodically repeat turning on and off. Ultimately one core besides the main core will be operating and the other two will rest. If the main core by some reason cannot function, then the core on standby with the power on will convert to main core and start consuming energy.

Consider it as an army, one of the four soldiers will be stationed to battle, and three will be made put on standby in rotation. Making a theory itself is easy, but actually trying to program is a whole different story. And making a program that will be applied on the ships main power source to boot. Scotty once came across it as theory but back then it was just a paper hypothesis. Various variables must be calculated to design a program controlling only one core, but put multiple cores on a ship? Scotty didn’t even want to imagine how many spaceship engineers were grated in the process of making the Constellations computer.

“This is truly amazing. The OS itself is completely different than the Enterprise’s. They must have upgraded at least three to four stages from the OS we use.”

“Starfleet must have been pissed after getting their asses handed by Nero.”

Scotty replied to Marcus’s astonishment. She was just surprised about nine times while running the ballistic calculation program on the simulator. To quote her, it could be said that monster with the capability of shooting a sparrows eye flying 10Km away from atop a moving jet with precision was living and breathing inside this computer.

“It’s surprising that this was made in our generation. How can this be? Why aren’t they giving this kind of tech to the Enterprise or other ships?”

“The lassie was never built for war. That’s the reason. No matter if you can load, are loading weaponry, and firing it, she is fundamentally for exploration. This guy is not like the Enterprise. A Delta Force in a dress.”

“Starfleet’s almost no better than a military organization now.”

Carol while taking off her headset, looked up at Scotty operating something with a pad near the ventilation. He was doing his thing while keeping quite well balanced at a risky height.

“ _Almost?_ Starfleet was always a military organization. They train troops in military fashion, use military rank, has weapons only the army should have, and does work only the army should do. If the extent of the military on Earth ends with destroying a couple of countries, Starfleet goes out and about smashing planets and galaxies. Only pretend hiding under the superficial name of paramilitary.”

“You’re right.”

Scotty didn’t notice the bitterness smeared over Carol’s voice.

“But it seems they gave up on the sincerity of ostrichism. How the excuse that we will make atonement for the damages Nero made and _‘Firmly’_ proclaim our _‘Will to Defend’_ in this _‘Invasive War’_. The policies these couple of years have been quite a sight. The transwarp theory wasn’t the only thing those cheats took from me. I saw my fingerprints all over this warship. They were very tactfully hidden.”

“Yes. Nero took a lot, but at the same time gave us too many excuses……. Now nobody can object the blunt arming of ourselves from a paper enemy.”

“You said it! Especially the stuck-up authorities,” Scotty cut short on his speech and momentarily took his communicator in his mouth to control the pad with two hands. “They’re in constant angst waiting to pick a fight with the Klingons.”

“The leading example of those people was Alexander Marcus, my father.”

Carol turned off the simulator and got up from her spot. She took her pad and swiped in all sorts of equipment and wires in to the bag she carried and prepared to move to a different location. All the work she needed done on the section with Scotty was finished. Now it was time to inspect other programs on another section. The Constellations ballistic measurement program won’t be the only thing that will surprise her.

“It’s true. My father never did try to hide it in any other way. So stop with the world’s most awkward expression.”

Carol winked but Scotty’s expression didn’t easily change. He was seriously considering if this trap of disaster would be a bit more compliant on Klingon. But the mouth that didn’t keep shut on the companionless Delta Vega didn’t seem like it would show progress there.

“I didn’t have a clue father was planning on sacrificing that many people to justify war against the Klingons. I roughly knew he didn’t feel comfortable about the coexistence with the Klingons. And the fact that after the destruction of Vulcan, he was constantly trying by any means to strengthen Starfleet’s force… I wasn’t ignorant. Yes, it would be a lie if I said I didn’t know. I was his daughter. With degrees on military science and hopology. Would I have been truly, completely ignorant of that state?”

She went on while swiping her hair over with one hand.

“I actually heard your name for the first time from my father.”

“Say what?!”

Scotty almost fell off of the ventilation. It was just because his presence was made on a part he never thought he would be mentioned, but Carol must have taken it in a negative way. She quickly added.

“Don’t be upset! He thought that your transwarp theory would be upmost helpful in a military perspective. Even telling me about you, to look up your thesis, and use it as reference if they have useful aspects to what I’m studying. And I listened. So I was inspired surveying your work… When my understanding of your theory, transwarp was being used on every Starfleet ship, and it was already after you were left with no compensation at all. That was the first time I felt ashamed of my father. He was most likely leading the crime . Truth be told, not only you… Starfleet stole engineering from a lot of people. Every act made with the same purpose of strengthening forces.”

“Um…, Excuse me?”

_-Please, don’t cry._ Scotty couldn’t do anything but give these words. Carol waited for the tears to dry out while dabbing at the corner of her eyes with her gloved finger. It was a secret she constantly wanted to tell someone, but actually letting it out was more sad and painful then thought.

“The reason why I visited your lab without notice, do you get it know?”

“Well…… It would still be as weird visiting if you did notify beforehand.”

Scotty didn’t take offense on her lab raid, and just let it go. He wasn’t the type to think deep on that sort of manner.

“I was sure you would have a grudge on the people who stole your transwarp theory. The all too obvious people took in such an obvious way, the work that could shake Starfleet as a whole with bare hands……. So I thought Scott, that in spite you would be planning something else. I admit being not just apologetic, but wariness too. Sorry. I’m just crude like that.” She said. “but the Mr. Scott I saw was so composed. That day, talking to you I knew that you were a pure engineer at heart without ambition. No ill intent. You do not have half the clue of how an amazing person you are. So going back home that day I felt ashamed, sorry, and I wanted to tell you this someday.” She once again dabbed at her eyes. “I’m the definition of a newbie so I have a lot more I don’t know than the things I do. It would seem, me saying you are this and that is something to laugh about. But one thing is for sure. The ship needs you, and the captain needs an engineer like you. A good match.”

It was then when Bones dynamically marched out from behind the pipes.

_“Greetings, nerds!”_

Scotty and Carol didn’t even have the chance to be surprised and looked back at him. Bones hesitated for a bit by Scotty and Carols stare of absurdity, then his eyes popped out by the sight of the reddened rim of Carol’s eyes. Unlike before, he said with spirit lost in his voice.

“Should I come back later?”

“What’s going on?”

“Oh nothing, you should come with me to medbay, pronto. You don’t get veto. So sorry, Carol. This is the only way to cook an old stag.”

 

36.

  
If someone asked if Scotty ever dreamt of Kirk, it could be said that he had a more or less a fair amount of experience.

The storyline shown in the dreams could be categorized into two. One, the repeat of the memory of him being carried to medbay by Kirk, and the rest, the two of them wandering around somewhere. Really, just taking a walk somewhere together. The place of wandering was Aberdeen, London, and some street in Cardiff. Scotty’s frequented pub when living in Aberdeen included.  
In dreams, the two of them were not in those crap Starfleet uniforms. Jim wearing chinos and a jacket, Scotty in a jumper and coat. Just walking without a destination, Scotty chatting about whatever he wants to and Jim listening still. Like old friends they stay calm at a place for a while then the dream is over.

The thing called desire at the edge of subconscious is like this too. It was a dream that could get old man Freud to mock at you, to cut the bullshit and not speculate your libido as such a lousy thing. He’d be laughing his tips over in the underworld, but anyhow that was reality. It could be the self-conscious thoroughly suppressing the desire, or the brain could be on overload of information, lacking time to tend to the code called affection. Anyway, the only longing he had in his heart had the amount of what could be overlooked by anyone if told. In reality, even that was hard to dream about.

Questions like these were also hard to put to thought. If he were a beautiful woman like Carol? What if an old friend like McCoy? Like Spock… No, that’s enough.

 

37.

  
“Well, aren’t you a crappy superior. Making a girl cry.”

“Sure, if someone is crying it means I have a crap character?”

Scotty struck back not wanting to explain himself. Bones with the expression of ‘what? caught his eye. This response must have been nothing even close to what Bones imagined.

“I didn’t do shit wrong, didn’t make anyone cry, coincidently was with a girl crying over some grief, just coincidently, caught up in astronomical numbers happened to be in the same spot nobody including you would believe me, right? Of course, you wouldn’t. Right, let’s pretend I made her cry. Fuck, with a shit mug like this I’d want to bawl at first sight.”

“What the….”

The doctor who did not even once degrade Scott’s appearance, did not joke with degrading means, and did not have future plans to degrade him, did not know how to respond. If Scotty was a woman, he would have made a PMS diagnosis and sent her off with tranquilizer, but like Bones Scotty was male. And his puberty stage must have passed roughly about 20 years ago. But because of Scotty’s ghost like terrible expression he almost opened up his drawer and took out the stabilizer.

“Can’t take a joke? Why are you throwing a fit.”

“Oh, who was first to blame me? There’s a time and place for jokes to be made.”

“Anyhow, why was Carol crying? You two were talking about something.”

Scotty twitched his mouth at Bones’s words. “What would I know? Mrs. Marcus was just here for those computers. I just happened to be there because of a report I got on the oxygen concentration level abnormality. So the two of us just! Crossed paths! And somehow with the reports we had to make had a bit of a chat!”

“What report?”

“About the trans… _port_?”

Scotty hesitated momentarily. His flaw of not having the talent of making up nonsense always ended up with a crisis. _Shit._ With a slip of the tongue he almost said ‘warp’.

“Geek and geeklet talk. Nothing to cry over. What is there to talk about transport?”

“The thing is…? … When you transport someone… from the mothership to another vessel or shuttle, in the process accompanied by the Am…#$&^$&%*^%mmmgh??”

“You bite your tongue?”

“… accompanied by the **time lag!!** Time lag!!! I said it would be incredible if there was a way to shorten that time lag! Mrs. Marcus was continuously researching a way but didn’t have much progress!! So she shed a wee tear out of frustration!! Worth the tear!! A good reason to cry!! Who would sympathize over this kind of bone grating pain, than an engineer like me?!”

Bones tilted his head. Did that woman also in charge of the transporter? I thought she only did weapons and defense systems? Pocketing all that she’s an all-rounder? Scotty figuring out that his ten second made up lie got through to the engineering layman doctor, let out a sigh of relief and drove the wedge in. What would the technologically challenged know about the pain of a genius.

“It was that painful? As expected, your part of the world is a mystery.”

“Naturally. Marcus is so far, the most intelligent woman I’ve ever seen. She’s going to play a big part later. By the way, I didn’t say anything weird, did I? Accompanied by… After that.”

“You told me ‘Time lag’ yourself.”

Bones showed irritation whilst pushing a tricorder at Scotty’s chest. He already got in a sweat getting this loud rebellious guest to medbay which was like home. Having a shit ton of things to do and with an engineering geek putting on extra weight to his shoulders, there was no way he wouldn’t be in a fit. Normally it was difficult talking to Scotty with refined language. But days like this were harder.

“Now are you going to tell me why you dragged me here?”

“Why, I told thee to come check up on thou daily diet but did you not once grace thy presence. Nor did thou not grant the cafeteria with your body all the same. There cannot be a diet when you haven’t eaten any proper dish to begin with. Even if you die, it’s going to be me murdering you, fucking bastard.”

He got up while brutally hurling the tricorder.

“I revise what I said last time. Put on 20 pounds. Twice a day to medbay. I plan on testing every nutritional supplement on you. I’m unconditionally accompanying you to the cafeteria. As a diagnosis, symptoms of malnutrition and early stage of pneumonia is showing, thyroid function decrease suspected. Depression absolute. Diagnosis over.”

“Absolutely not.”

Bones hesitated from turning around to go to the cabinets. Turning around with a grim face he could see Scotty half burying his face in his hands. Even with trying extra hard to keep a pessimistic eye, it was difficult to deny the fact that his expression held pure agony. Scotty looked like he could burst with the barest of touch. Sighing, he spoke.

“You know why I couldn’t go to medbay all this time?”

“ _’Couldn’t’_ go?”

“The bridge is way too close here…….”

What kind of flipping bullshit was this, thinking this he realized that Scotty and Kirks fight was an ongoing thing. Details aside, it was clear that Jim busted out in fury enough to put the stubborn to all Scott at a loss. It was likely Kirk had no intention of letting his anger go in the near future.

When Scotty’s name was dropped out of the initial boarding list he thought it was just a simple error, and he stuck with that thought when the second boarding list was uploaded. But with Spock’s subtle words to the officers frequenting the bridge he knew that thought was a mistake. And seeing Scotty’s expression on day one embarking the Constellation, he assumed some serious trouble between the two. Ten to one, Kirk had the upper hand trouble.  
And Jim killed time at medbay way too much.

“Afraid you’ll bump into someone from the bridge?”

“If isn’t just simple anger I was afraid about. If we were to run into each other by coincidence…….”

_-I get kicked out._ As he finished his sentence, Bones’s face was dyed in shock.

“Dear lord, did Jim tell you that?”

“Not face to face, but got Spock to tell me…….”

“So, it’s a hundred percent true. Being aboard is fine but don’t fucking show your face?”

“I think he means not to even pretend being alive.”

_My holy fucking Jimness! Sir, how should I cook that narrow-minded crud. Hmm?_ Doctor McCoy mumbled while madly scratching at his hair then suddenly disappeared off to somewhere. 5 minutes later, he reappeared hand in hand with an oh so familiar bottle and two glasses. Then gestured Scotty over.

“I shouldn’t be doing this to a patient, but let’s stray off the straight line for a change. Come on, lad.”

 

 

38.

  
Kirk looked outside the window at the stars receding out from a singularity. The ship was moving in high velocity. Despite the present crew, a calm silence flowed in the bridge. The seldom ‘beep’ of picked up signal scattered in to thin air.  
There is no deciphering of day and night to the far away human who left the solar system. But Kirk thought of now as night. The dead of night. _His only._ The darkness filling in between star to star penetrates the glass window, sweeping through him once then passed by. The few distant oncoming planets told him how far from Earth the Constellation was.

 

 

39.

  
A different kind of silence ran through Bones and Scotty. Scotty was staring at the innocent glass floor (there were fifteen more of that whiskey at his house), Bones was supporting his jaw with his right hand and tapping on the table with his left. This silence was the forewarning of a soon to be serious talk. Bones was organizing this and that through his head, and Scotty was in the process of predicting what would come out of Bones’ mouth.  
The first to break the silence was Bones.

“That’s a bit brutal.”

The strength gave out from Scotty’s fingers. He spoke while hastily grabbing on to the glass he almost let go of.

“I was wondering what mighty thought you were hanging on to, and you come to that wee conclusion?”

“What I’m trying to say is, the both of you went a bit too far. Kirk. Scotty. I mean both. How did you manage to strike a bullseye on all the best complexes and drag this up until now.”  
Bones poured another glass of whiskey into his glass. He put in the effort of opening it and was disappointed with Scotty’s droopy reaction, but the spiffy excuse made to open the bottle itself was okay. To open up a prized possession just because he felt like a drink would weigh heavy on his conscience. The fact that there was no ice was a pity.

“Right, I did poke on his sore spot. A strike at that! Fucking merciless! Knife head in, I admit. But he never counter touched on my complex.”

“Kirk’s trying to treat you like you don’t exist?”

“Who in the world would feel good about being treated as non-existent?”

“You particularly can’t stand being persecuted or neglected by none other than ‘James Kirk’. Look at the things you’ve done so far. Getting fired just a couple of hours ago and with one coordinate from Kirk you’re off to Jupiter taking part at destroying a dreadnought class monster.  
If I fought with Kirk and handed in my resignation, I’d still be in San Francisco with the time to fly to Jupiter and yada yada. The next day I’d check if something like a call from him came in. At least until my dignity allowed I won’t take any orders from him. Isn’t that the norm?”

Before Scotty could place in his complain Bones raised a hand and stopped him.

“To point is unlike me, you unconditionally want to be of help to Jim. You were always showing and never hid the need to get approval from Jim. That’s why when you’re fighting with him you can’t just fuck it you go your way, and I’ll go mine. My way. You can’t do something as simple as that. Capeesh? I can vividly picture a tiny subordinate running north to south just to get some attention from his superior. Judging by that I can imagine what I can’t stand to see you so get the fuck out of my sight would seem like to your ears.”

“We did drink together but you’re to only one getting drunk? You’re spewing crap.”

But Scotty’s heart prickled as though a hedgehog rolled once through it. Where did Bones’s power of looking straight in to a person’s mind come from? Is telepathy included in modern medical technology? Or a mind meld with Bones turning out to be Vulcan? With the ever so beyond describable, tepid relationship between Spock and Bones that seemed unlikely.

“Your complex is the ‘attention’ that Jim gives you, it’s about time to talk about Jim’s complex. Do you know the reason why I was able to befriend Jim Kirk, the start to finish opposite of myself? That shallow rogue and unpredictable git?

“Why should I care.” Scotty spat as he put the glass down on the table.

“I’m shit at history. Not my proudest point, but textbook great men or happenings are not my interests and I can’t seem to memorize them. Strangely my brain doesn’t roll with history. From the get go my brain wasn’t designed that way. The stuff I memorized is the ones I cramped into my head in order to just pass the tests.”

“I was sure we were talking about ‘The reason why Bones insisted being friends with Kirk.’”

“The point is this. I didn’t know about the existence of George Kirk.” Bones took a sip of whiskey. “That’s the reason I was able to be friends with Jim.”

 

40.

  
“Just… Me saying I had no interest, I have absolutely no intention of degrading lieutenant George Kirk’s achievement. There’s no doubt in thinking that sacrificing oneself to save over 800 lives was a noble act. He probably didn’t have the slightest clue on what kind of shadow his death would bring to his son. If he did then what is he, God?

  
The problem is that his son James Kirk ended up being Harry Potter. Um, don’t you read classical fantasy? You’re not capable of reading those are you. You’d dig in to Asimov or Heinrich……. Forget it. I don’t know that department.  
Let me state that again. I think Jim got too much expectation and hate because of the sole reason of being George’s son. They say his mother hated his son growing up by stepping atop his father’s sacrifice, and relatives always thought of Jim as not Jim but ‘The grand George’s son’, the chance of joining the academy also……. Uh… I heard captain Pike took special interest in Jim being ‘George’s son’ so that happened.

  
I can’t guarantee how much truth there is to this because to that point I heard if from Kirk and the others. But I saw with my own eyes at the academy how people really treated Kirk. Your father was lieutenant Kirk? ‘The’ Kirk’s son? Can I get a picture? I want to show my little brother. He really respects your father. Did you see your father’s monument in Iowa? Hi you must be George Kirks son? What’s the matter with you when your ‘The’ George Kirk’s son? _(Wow, there was actually a bitch saying that upfront)_ Don’t you think that you’re being a disgrace to your father’s honor? Are you even planning on becoming a good enough captain as your father? _(Yeah right, for 12 minutes.)_ Can you handle that big of a sacrifice? _(Oh please, with what war?)_ Do you look up to your father? Why is there no son like his father? Why are you so shallow? Answer me, George’s son! Hey!

  
I get to some extent why he pounced around like a colt let loose back in his cadet years. If he didn’t get stress relief that way he’d have been a neurotic patient in less than a year. I’m sure of it. Because of the people thinking of Jim’s existence as his father’s parody or an homage, just being in the sidelines made me almost lose my shit.  
If Jim said that he jumped the rails to prove his being apart from his father (I call bullshit) that would fit the psychological explanation. That’s how much people tried to cover Jim’s face with George’s mask, and Jim ran away every single day to avoid putting on that mask. A hilarious hide and seek, don’t you think?  
No matter how hard he tries to get away from his father’s shadow, his name is in the textbooks and a thesis with mentions of his name in the library and at a corner in Starfleet his nameplate is hung up. A too big of an honor is....in itself a trap. If you get caught you’re bound to slowly die in pain.

  
Spock even outright brought up ‘Your father’s sacrifice’. In the rough times, they had between Jim and that guy. Do you believe that?

  
Jim being known as just ‘James T Kirk’ was after he became captain, shoved Nero into a black hole and safely brought the Enterprise back to Earth. Funny innint? After stepping in a similar path as his father, but returning alive they start seeing Jim as Jim. Until then Jim was just George’s variation, hmm, they start accepting Jim’s capability after he makes a sacrifice but unlike George he survives it? Does that sum it up? You organize that later.  
The point being, Jim in his way caring about his crew (Yes, it doesn’t seem like he does much) thinking highly of the captaincy (Yes, I know it doesn’t seem like he cherishes it) are because the way to shedding off his father’s halo and shining on his own is limited. Living as ‘The good captain’. The other, the confidence that the Enterprise family he shares life and death with sees him as ‘Jim’ and not ‘George’s son’.  
Running away from his father’s shadow is still Jim’s portion. Just not as desperate as before.”

 

 

41.

  
As Bones’s lengthy speech ended, Scotty pressed his hand to his forehead. And in the end, had to bring up the ever so sore topic once again.

“So, what you’re saying is, me saying ‘Why did you try to be your father’ was…….”

 

 

42.

  
“….was a serious mockery towards Jim. The determination of sacrifice Jim made for the people Jim loves, eventually being just a copy of his father’s sacrifice…….”

Bones murmured as he rubbed his alcohol-ridden face.

 

 

43.

  
**A------lag**   **[Summary]** The time lag present during transportation whilst the subject located at the designated coordinate is read ……  
…… Previously referred as the time lag without a specific title, but as Starfleet’s team led by Professor Gunnar Olson Thomas Leyendecker made modifications to the function in order to read data in the transporting process…… Argued the necessity of a new standard of calculus concerning the time lag …… putting in consideration of the modulus of elasticity in calculating said lag ……

  
_**(blackblackblackblack)**_

__

 

44.

  
Just four days past his threat was made, Doctor McCoy backed out on Scotty. A bomb was dropped on all the medical officers after an unknown case of mutant typhus spread out onboard.

The first patient was a male officer who usually worked in the control room. He one day came pleading to Bones with a light fever and chronic fatigue, but without any indication of a cold or the flu, Bones diagnosed the cause as overwork and sent him off with medication. The next day at work he collapsed while breaking out with a rash. A couple of hours later, the people working at near locations one by one started to experience fatigue. Bones blocked medbay and only let in crew suspected of Typhus. After a day when a nurse officer under Bones got hold of the same Typhus, Bones issued a ship wide alert.

‘Don’t unnecessarily swarm in one place. Get inside and out of a sterilization system more than once a day. Once you get your jobs done, get the hell out and back to your quarters. The still intact crews don’t even come near medbay. Especially you lot on bridge duty. _Honest to god!_ ’ Bones had to stay trapped in medbay without sleep.

The inside of a ship marooned in space is no different than a world constantly on standby to circulate an epidemic. When a vital something starts to spread, it does not take long devouring the entire ship. Furthermore, if by mistake the disease the Constellation carried spreads out to the planet they arrive at, the situation could shift to an uncontrollable state.

_What an odd thing to happen on just a field trip._ Scotty thought. He did not have any intention of getting nutrition supplements, nor did he want to be up on edge eating with Bones and stuff his throat with food. Unlike Typhus, the cause of his illness was oh so clear. Until that cause disappears, whatever prescription made won’t wash away this uncomfortable feeling. And he wasn’t going to search out for Bones who was fighting a war amongst the sick and bother him to get checked up. Bones completely forgot about Scotty, and Scotty also forgot about Bones.

 

 

45.

  
Scotty unexpectedly ran into the two while walking past the voltage station. It was Carol and Sulu. Carol was pointing at a panel talking about something, and Sulu was nodding along. Biting at a sandwich.

“Who’d you put in charge of steering the wheel staggering down here?”

“Long time no see, Scott.” Sulu flashed a grin. “Thought I’d get some shut eye in my room. Lost track of time to sleep.”

“Jim kept nagging you?”

“Ah, not at all. Captain Kirk was just the usual. Time flies when you keep checking over this and that because the command computer systems are so different from the Enterprise. There were even functions I’d never use in my lifetime. Like pulling an all-nighter playing video games.”

To be honest, Scotty also wanted to have look at the command computer systems. He didn’t mention it but was secretly hoping to when he first heard they were going to train on the Constellation. It was inevitable as an engineer to want to touch the brain of the monster made with countless human engineer sacrifices. Running life support perched up on the vents, he lightly brought it up to Carol and a casual answer was returned. ‘You could go to the bridge? If it was Mr. Scott, you could have a look anytime.’ Scotty then figured out that the commander did not hint at lieutenant Marcus about his and Jim’s discord, or his ban from entering. He then had to make hundreds of excuses on why he couldn’t go to the bridge. There was no way of knowing whether she accepted them or not.

Carol’s voice pulled Scotty out of his thoughts.

“Not necessarily. Doctor McCoy made some threats about if the yellow shirts were to die they’d have to die on the bridge so everyone is holding down the fort for now. If anybody heard they’d think the pest was spread outside the bridge.”

“The doctor does talk that way.”

“But in fact everyone is itching to get out of the bridge. Especially the captain.” Sulu said as he tossed the last remainder of his sandwich in his mouth. “The commander and Uhura are giving each other the cold shoulder. The atmosphere there is brutal right now. There was some kind of a precedent made in America about fraud under the pretense of marriage, Mr. Spock and Uhura fought while having different interpretations about it or something… I’d rather have them have a lovers’ quarrel. Later on, the captain howled at them to quit it. There’s nothing to do about their seats unfortunately being right behind my chair, but don’t do this right at the back of my head. Ever since a couple of days ago, a cold war without a word. Umm.”

“Outer space and what… They fight on a cosmos kind of level. I did suspect something was off when they said they were in a relationship.”

Scotty shook his head. Sulu shrugged, and Carol made a face of resignation.

“As a woman, I’d like to take Lieutenant Uhura’s side. I saw them fighting once or twice visiting the bridge.”

“You also think Spock’s talking bullshit?”

“No, not like that but because the ballistics measuring program is about a tenth sweeter than Mr. Spock? If my boyfriend talked like that, no matter how his word is reasonable I’d want kick him like a football and blow him to pieces. Mr. Scott, take this. A good thing that I was just on my way to see you.”

Scotty took the portable panel she abruptly pushed over. He tilted his head trying to recall if he left any panels behind while working, but was put to shock seeing the screen opened on the panel.

“I dabbled in a bit from the principles of the Tantalus field. The helmsmen’s computer screen, Navigator’s computer screen, the screen on the bridge windows, and this is the map locating where the ship is currently at. Like this you can view it in a quartered state, if you want to see it larger, like this… double tap and it shifts to full screen.”

The panel Carol gave displayed what she was saying on live transmission. It was like she was transmitting exactly what it was recording on screen and showing it to Scotty. Of course, it was truly just a surveillance camera and there was nothing Scotty could do about it then watch, but something like this he never even imagined. As Scotty stood still muted in surprise, Sulu opened his mouth.

“I thought it would be nice if you had a look at my computer. By the look of it I don’t think I’ve got half of the functions. You’d definitely get a hard on. But when the captain said you couldn’t enter the bridge I was troubled. There probably won’t be another chance to board the Constellation. That’s when Lieutenant Marcus made an interesting suggestion to me.”

Scotty fell into thought. Carol Marcus is an officer. But her going in and out of the bridge like McCoy when he feels like it won’t be as natural. Her going up to the bridge is when she has something to report to Jim or Spock, usually being at the shuttle and armory, or wandering around engineering and looking after the engines would be more natural. Someone like that showing themselves getting near the helmsmen’s computer and unfolding the Tantalus field would seem weird to anybody. More so at a time like this when getting in and out of the bridge is a hassle. Now Scotty could assume the sandwich Sulu is holding was not simply on good will.

“This isn’t something against Starfleet regulations, is it?”

Starfleet regulations were usually something he didn’t give a damn about, but suddenly the query came out of his mouth. He was yet to give up the habit of pushing out something absolutely different from his mouth when he ought to speak gratitude. Sulu rolled his eyes.

“Oh I couldn’t say, regulations are the commander’s responsibility.”

“Wouldn’t it be alright if the panel isn’t being delivered to someone off ship?” Carol asked.

“I don’t know. Someone installing stuff like the Tantalus field in the interior of the could possibly be against regulations. But this won’t ever be known unless someone’s actually paying attention.”

  
_\- And I‘m not gonna pay attention to anything for a couple of days._ Sulu cracked a huge yawn as he finished his words.

 

 

 

46.

  
Jim Kirk thought this training screamed wrong from start to finish. Barely keeping the crew alive after a war, only giving out a couple months rest then absentmindedly placing them to train, ordering for them to use a different ship than the Enterprise and giving out chaos to multiple crewmembers, a sudden plague, a preposterous fight between the commander and translations officer, and his shitty state of mind of rage or regret, if not self-loath he could not know. Whichever it was he was not in the mood to fly anywhere outer space.

  
He’d rather have Spock and Uhura’s fight, tooth and nail. Then he would be able to scream at them and explode a tantrum. Don’t know about Uhura, but that would never in a million years happen with her boyfriend. The two took to radical silence and avoidance. For that, a constant chill was present on the bridge daily but he couldn’t even voice his annoyance. Along the way with a sudden change of plans on the expedition, unpleasant emotion just kept piling itself up.  
If things were going according to plan, he would take the Constellation to planet Eurotas, get a thorough interim report from the leader of Eurotas about the current development on the element Iodin. But the entity ruling over Eurotas right now is not a person but a brutal political unrest. A couple of hours ago, an emergency call about a civil war breaking out came through to the ship. An outbreak of conflict between the Liberals wanting a solidarity with the Klingons and the Conservatives wanting a bond with the Federation. Hearing the cries of rage and explosions in between the leader’s urgent speech, Kirk came to a conclusion that landing on Eurotas right now would be no different from involving themselves in a war. A training was a training so they had to explore something but doing that at this current destination was ludicracy.

  
He eventually let out an order to turn the ship to the Namia galaxy, then sat on his chair.

 

 

47.  
  
Scotty gave Carol what he had been carrying around in his pocket. Carol asked, carefully moving around the small puppy shaped badge placed on her palm.

"What is this Mr. Scott?"

“I’m giving this to you before I forget. That’s a Proof of some experiment……. When we get back to Earth, I’ll show it to you face to face. It’s a research you’ll be interested in.”

Then said as he pointed a finger at Sulu. “You come with officer Marcus, I’ll specially show you as well.”  
Carol thought about where to put the badge, then decided to take out a black pin she was wearing in her hair and put it on there. Then placed the pin back on her head. Sulu and Scotty looked at this trail of action closely as if watching the process of life hatch. She had the ability of making the simple of things look extremely elegant.

 

 

 

48.

  
Bones sat on his chair, looking over patients who were breaking out with both a rash and fever sprawled over the bed. He had just given out hypo shots to the infected, and the computer was analyzing the pathogen in a sluggish marathon. 65% analyzation complete. The loading bar that seemed to fill 1% per hour was blankly staring back at him. He ought to rest in this brief gap between work, but couldn’t let his guard down just in case another patient came through medbay doors. He wondered when he would be able to get away from this godforsaken training and step on Earth again.  
Come to think of it, when were we going to arrive at destination? Even though a lot more time has passed than estimated, the ship didn’t seem to show signs of stopping anytime soon. He could feel that for sure even without the time to check on the calendar. Suddenly, Kirk’s voice ran through the silence in medbay.

  
[ **Kirk in.** ]

  
Bones swiftly looked up to where the voice was coming from.

  
[ … Attention officers. As you already know, this expedition was headed to planet Eurotas on the Gaussian system. But due to inevitable reasons we had to make an urgent change of destination. Currently the ship is headed towards the Namia system. ]

For a moment, the sound of Kirk adjusting his voice was heard.

[ This expedition will return to Earth after collecting data from the Namia systems planet Wegon, Zardon and Orpha. We will go into warp shortly. It was decided that due to the instability of Eurotas politics it is inappropriate for a Starfleet expedition to approach, therefore a change of action was made from what was scheduled……. ]

  
Bones muttered without looking away from where the ship-wide announcement was being made. _Headed to Wegon? Dammit. The forlorn planet Wegon?_  
He’s seen a picture of Wegon in a boo. What must have been something a Starfleet expedition took a very long time ago. It was just a picture, but Bones could clearly read out the vastness and desolation, that of an exile ground.

  
‘Hey, Jim. If we’re going somewhere else, couldn’t we head somewhere pleasant. It’s a complete desert there. A depression hazard.’ Taking a piss out on thin air for a moment, a patient slowly woke up because of the broadcasting noise and Bones had to get up again.

 


	3. The falling (3)

 

 

49

  
  
There are six planets cycling around star Namia. According to past Starfleet expedition record, Wegon was the only planet that showed signs of life. The planet was ruled by a nonverbal species shorter than humans. The nature and atmosphere were in every aspect the equivalent of New Zealand’s wilderness. Giant photosynthesis animals roamed the land and ocean.

That Wegon is now a planet trapped in the past. (Barely mentioned in federation history) Not long after starting contact with the federation through Starfleet, an unknown disease started creeping its way across Wegon. This sickness didn’t influence the planet locals. The one’s affected by the disease were the plants of Wegon. The virus, that where and how it came to be, was a mystery, wiped out all plant life on Wegon in just 15 years. When the planetary residents figured out the seriousness of the situation and called the federation for help, New Zealand had already turned into the Sahara Desert, and they themselves also, had a massive reduction in population. On top of that, due to the sudden change in environment, unprecedented mass scale storms started emerging everywhere around the continent.  
The federation quickly started rescuing the survivors. As a minority, they spread out to various planets, and soon got alienated or assimilated to the natives. Unlike Vulcans, without the volition to consult their kind, they met their end as a species.

After Wegon, Starfleet stopped visiting the Namia system. If it was because of the planets there, apart from Wegon, didn’t have much to see, or the fact that the federation knew at the back of their minds, that there was a high chance Wegon’s demolition could have been due to Starfleet, nobody knows. Anyhow, in the last 40 years, there has been no data collected from the Namia. Kirk, not knowing the full story, just felt intrigued by the blank in data and headed to there.  
He didn’t consider just one aspect.

The evolutionary path the Wegon’s surviving animals took.

 

 

 

 

50

Scotty lied down on the bed while listening to the ship wide announcement. ‘So, we’re headed to the ass-end of space .’ He thought it would be nice if Kirk’s voice flowed through the speakers one more time. Then suddenly feeling annoyed at himself for thinking about it, he threw a pillow. But the longing that dull voice brought on poked painfully at his head. Poke, poke. He eventually gave up on sleeping and picked up the panel Marcus gave.

The computer on the bridge was spectacular. Spectacular was the only word for it. Route searching only took seconds, running 20 different works didn’t put on any delay. If the user asked for it, it calculated the shortest length and time by using a holographic astronomical map. Of course, every obstacle and magnetic field, and gravity field between planets were taken in calculation with the result. Truth be told, this computer had a flawless program that made the helmsmen and navigator position seem unnecessary, it felt inhumane.

Scotty missed the Enterprise. Slowly healing on the mother ship after a serious injury. Not as smart as the Constellation but firm and comforting. On board the Enterprise, Scotty felt consolation. A softness without form, caressing his shoulders felt like it was inquiring. Am I okay? Are you as okay as I am? The Enterprise seemed to be the first and last subject of Scotty’s unconditional love. For she would not turn away the love offered to her.

The Constellation did not have that kind of softness. This was the grave of distorted studies. Wherever, you could catch the scent of military efficiency and the will to combat. A nuclear like pressure weighed down on the crew. An unfitting ship. Kirk, Scott, and none of the crews that shared their destinies with the Enterprise. Scotty turned off the panel that brought him both joy and disappointment.

 

 

  
51

He was standing there facing the ocean breeze. Grass green and yellow as a stack of straws, lay beneath his feet, Far away at shore, a grey fortress revealed itself above rock faces that stood like little islands. The sky was coercively overspreading the above. The wind was so tough it made people stumble backwards. _Shit, where in hell is this place?_

All of a sudden, Stonehaven popped up in his mind. As a student, when things were not going as planned, he would drive alone to Stonehaven and sit wherever and drink. While moping around, there were times where he found that little string that lead to the answer he sought for. Now Scotty knew where he was looking at. It was Dunnottar Castle, standing in solitude atop a rock like a forgotten kingdom. As the world changed, it alone remained amidst the rubbles of the 17th century. Looking at the disheveled walls, Scotty seldom found stability from the isolation that it granted him.

 

“Hey.”

  
“HEY.”

 

Scotty jumped at Kirk’s faint voice. Looking back, Kirk was standing far away. He was in his Starfleet yellow uniform. In Stonehaven’s green, blue and dirt coloured landscape, Kirk’s colour vividly stood out. Like he alone was engulfed in another world of space and time. Scotty instinctively got the feeling this situation wasn’t going to end pretty.

 

“This place gives me the creeps.”

“-Then why are you here?”

 

Scotty took a step towards Kirk, but Kirk gestured him to stop. The waves breaking from afar echoed like the beating of a drum.

 

“Jim?”

“It’s cold here. Lonely. Remote from the world like a ghost. Totally gives me the creeps.”

“…….”

“…….”

“So, it fucking suits you.”

 

Before Scotty could say anything in return, the gigantic cliff that stood beside them started cracking with noise. Between it, the opened white hatch of the Enterprise wielded it’s dignity. Kirk jumped on top of it. Then looked back at Scotty and spoke.  
The sound of the waved and wind made inaudible. But Scotty read the shape of his lips loud and clear.

 

**"So just stick with it.”**

 

At that moment, both the cliff, Kirk’s face, the castle walls and waves all fell apart and got sucked into the sky. Scotty woke up from sleep with heavy breaths. Darkness was filling up his sight. A complete desolation of nothing seen and nothing heard.

He frantically stumbled across his bet and found the night stand. Reading his motion, the stand immediately lit up. He crazily waved his hand until the stand was lit to maximum level, and finally fell flat after his bedroom was bright enough as if he had the ceiling lights on.  
_Shit, Shit, Shit, Shit, Shit, SHITTTTTTTT!!!_ _Oh, this ma fucker’s keeping me from sleep outer space, what the fuck! Who the fuck do you think YOU ARE!_ Scotty tried his best at chasing away the remnants in his head. A place of mindless excursions showing up in such a chilling image. He curled up as much as he could while ripping at his hair. As if doing that could erase the sky that seemed to engulf the castle, the ground blowing wind, the cliff with the mouth of a monster, and the void inside the eyes looking at him. As if that could make him forget the word that ripped opened his world.  
.  
After about 10 minutes, the dream slowly submerged under memory. The horror brought by the dream was swept away like it never existed in the first place. Only the stinging pain rising up from his heard remained. This is okay. As always, this too will fall apart with time.

Scotty opened the window cover that filled up an entire bedroom wall. The stars looked like grains of salt sprinkled on a black sheet of paper. Right now, how far he was from Scotland, how long it has been since he set foot in Dunnottar Castle, he couldn’t find out. A chill ran through the back of his neck.

 

  
52

 

 **A_a__a lag** [summary] ---------------------------------

**(SUCK)**

 

 

 

 

  
53

 

  
“Mr. Spock, what’s the element proportion in atmosphere?”

“81% nitrogen, 15% oxygen, 1% carbon dioxide, 0.7% argon, the remaining 2.3% is estimated to be consisted of a trace of krypton and xenon, helium, neon and etcetera. It seems to generally resemble Earth’s atmosphere, but has a lower oxygen rate and a higher carbon dioxide ratio than that of Earth’s. I can express that taking off your helmet would not be a wise choice.”

“Could the disappearance of flora have anything to do with this element percentage?”

“A plausible deduction, lieutenant Marcus, but according to Starfleet environment database, Wegon’s carbon dioxide range was higher than that of Earth’s. 0.2% has risen in 51 years. If this is a meaningful state of increase, or if the change of element rate is the primary variable for the extinction of flora is hard to clarify at this stage. I consider there to be many variables. Only, there aren’t enough samples of Wegon’s ecological system prior to destruction, it is a difficult situation to conclude on anything.”

 

  
Carol Marcus was witnessing infinity in front of her eyes. Sulu dropped his jaw. The sight before them was a sight that made differentiating between city and wilderness became meaningless, a landscape that would not be seen on Earth. Spock was the only one, without a hint of affection, who went to work with the measuring instrument.

  
The Constellation arrived at the southern hemisphere of the inland province. Spock’s view on the grounds being weak and therefore refraining the Constellation from directly landing was accepted. The ship remained in orbit while sending a shuttle to the ground.

The members who set foot on Wegon were Marcus, Sulu, and Spock, only the three. Kirk had no intention of putting any sincerity on what was written as an expedition but clearly pronounced as ‘put a flag on whichever planet and come back political spin’ training. Just get a bit of air, some biological samples and return, that was it. On a planet category not updated for decades, that much of data would be enough to evade nagging from the superior office.

 

[ Spock, just pick something and get up here. Carbon dioxide being high, carbon being high, whatever, let’s just think about it when you bring it up here. ]

“I do not know if you have any visuals of the situation on ground, there is no ‘something’ to pick up in proximity, rendering that as an inadequate order.” Spock responded to the heavily annoyed voice coming from the communicator.

[ Uh-huh, well done. Just wrap it up and move on to the next door…I mean, next planet. Can you not hear Zardorn reaching out to us… It at least looks a bit less gloomy than here. Well it is scorching hot though. ]

“Captain, wait. Coming all the way out here, we can’t end this with picking up some air and a couple of stones. Botanical and animal samples are needed.”

[ Carol, from up here I think this planet ran dry on any trace of life? The screen is only catching you and grey land. ]

  
Then the dead would make great samples, said Carol as she ran about 50M east from her original position. There was a vine stuck underneath a rock from a plant that shriveled up a long time ago. On a grey sand flatland stretching one hundred kilometers without any mountain or hill, that was the only organism she could find. The storm repeatedly occurring for decades swept away everything on land. The first thing they saw upon arrival was the endless horizon formed by a blurry sky and grey land. In a way, the sight pulled up a picture Earth, after civilization has been washed out  
.

“Captain, to find living animals we’ll have to go near seaside, not land. It looks like there’s nothing here. I don’t think this is a habitable environment.”

[ Hey, it said there were multiple kinds of animals and plants that could survive on photosynthesis alone. To sum it up, if there aren’t animals there, there’s no reason for animals to be at the sea. The sun should be shining bright there just like it is here. If they can’t live here, they can’t there. Hurry and return, Sulu. ]

  
Sulu hesitated for a second, confused on this being sophism or not. Spock has already put away his element measuring device and was collecting air samples, Carol has of course collected the vine and the rock, she was now busy scraping off the sandy soil and putting it in a beaker. Weapons specialist or not, her interests didn’t seem to stop only on exploding or launching stuff. Only the buzz of their movements was heard midst the silence. While looking back and forth at Carol and Spock, Sulu noticed a strange sensation pass by.

  
_Thud._

 

A sound of something small bumping from behind.

Carol and Spock was working in the range of Sulu’s sight, so it wasn’t a sound they were making. Sulu thought of it as something of his imagination, but the ‘thud’ was heard once more. Louder this time. A small vibration was felt beneath foot. He hurried the communicator to his mouth.

  
“Captain?”

[ Hmm? ]

“By any chance, is there information on an earthquake happening,”

  
Before he could finish, Sulu’s body was soaring up through the air.

 

 

54

It all happened in an instant that the three couldn’t grasp the situation for a couple of seconds. Sulu getting dragged up 6 meters by a giant thick root like thing, both Carol and Spock looking up at Sulu just stood there for a split-second staring at each other.  
But the silence was broken when that ‘Thing’ slammed Sulu to the ground.

 

“Mr. Sulu!”

 

Carol abandoned the things she was carrying and tried to run towards Sulu. But Spock, who was the first one to get it all together shouted at her. “Stop!” At that moment, the ground they were stood on started to shake immensely and the two fell over and rolled. The desert was surging up with a cloud of dust. The surroundings quickly clouded like there was a grey fog. From every direction, enormous pillar like roots similar to the one that threw Sulu to the ground were surging up by the dozen.

 

[Whoawhoawhoawhoa!!! What is all this?! Spock! Spock?!]

 

Barely stabilizing his body by digging his nails to the ground, Spock tried to snatch up the communicator that was dropped in front of his eyes. But as the ground suddenly started to split open, and the communicator fell in right through the crack. One of the roots that burst up hit Spock right on the side of his head. Carol let out a horrific shout. Without the time to process the situation , Spock threw all of his weight to the side.

 

[ Carol! Are you listening?! Carol! Can you hear me?! ]

“Captain!!! God, Captain this is…… Ahhhh!!!!”

 

With the shuttle as the center, the ground was tearing up big. Like the ground was opening up its jaw that it was hiding until now. Carol attempted to get up. But the root charged up hit her side and hurled her body several meters out. Spock shouted out to both Carl and Sulu but was not in a situation to reach any of them. The root was waving a clearly unconscious Sulu in midair like a toy. The shuttle, without a chance to even get a dent, disappeared in to the rupture.

  
[ Carol, answer me if you can hear this! I’ll transport you out right now so wait! Carol? Carol? ]

“Ah, Captain, Jim, in the ground, a monster came out from the ground! No no no, not in the ground. We thought of this wrong, not in…… This is impossible, this. Argh!!”

[ Carol, get a hold of yourself. Do you have sight of Spock and Sulu?! Chekov, are you still not done prepping transport?! SHIT! ]

 

At the same time, three to four column like thick roots launched at Carol. Turning her head, she rolled to the left with all her might. The roots struck the ground with just an arm’s length of distance. Without any time to feel relief about escaping death, another root coiled around her ankle and rapidly dragged her away. Kirk’s shouts were exploding from the communicator but Carol couldn’t give anything other than a scream.

With the fluctuating crevice as it’s center, within a radius of 40 meters started to surge up like the rim of a crater. To evade the roots that tried to snatch him, Spock ran as he stumbled on a ground shaking with the intensity of an earthquake. He now realized a grave fact. Them looking for animal samples there was a stupid act in the first place. Part of the land they were stepping on was a vast back or front of an animal. The root like thing was its arm. The dozens of roots out to capture and kill them were all its arms.

Most of Wegon’s aschelminthes must have gone through a sharp turn of mutation after plant life started to extinguish. No matter how negligent the past Starfleet expedition was in collecting data on Wegon, they wouldn’t have been this sloppy on observing this kind of behavior on animals and passing it as just a simple ‘Photosynthesis life inhabiting’. But does that mean a modification so fastidious, that a mountain goat could turn into a dinosaur in a couple of decades was possible? Simply because of a sharp turn in environment? As his trail of thought ended up at the possibility of the mysterious factor Wegon took in from outer space could have been more than just one plant disease, Spock internally shuddered. But could not further his supposition. Because an arm abruptly threw Sulu as hard as it could at Spock’s direction.

 

  
55

 

  
“Damn it!! It’s getting fucking ugly out there and we still can’t transport?”

 

Kirk shouted above a busy Chekov’s head, which was chasing with his eyes the coordinates bouncing in every direction on screen. But the only answer he got was a rushed and frightened voice.

 

“Captain, the ground is severely shaking right now and with all three of them constantly moving, a stable transport is impossible. Coordinates, I cannot set the coordinates!”

“Please, can’t you at least try?”

“Attempting a transport while the three are continuously deserting course would a hundred percent fail! The transport is possible when stood still for at least the amount of time it takes to read the three data. Continuously breaking away from coordinate when we have already put in the transport data, the three could die during transport, Captain! Currently they are moving in different directions every second!”

 

Shit. Shit. **SHIT!** Kirk wrapped his hands around his head. On the screen simultaneously showed Carol being helplessly dragged around by the roots of the monster, Sulu thrown away like a broken toy, and Spock dangerously sprinting towards Sulu’s direction, but there was nothing that could be done on the bridge. No signal reached Spock’s and Sulu’s presumably broken communicators. Carol as the sole person to be connected was only conveying shouts that seemed drawn straight from hell. He could hear Uhura swallowing her breath beside him.

At that moment, as the monsters center surged from the ground it completely opened and revealed its insides. Kirk and the crew could not conceal their shock. Showing up on screen was a gigantic… inside of a THROAT.

 

 

  
56

  
  
**Ama—a lag**

 

 

 

  
57

 

Scotty woke up from his light slumber.

 

 

 

 


End file.
